Sidford Folk Dance Club (founded in
1961!)
This page was updated on
8 January 2025.
Folk dancing to recorded or live music Tuesday evenings at
Sidford Social Hall, 8 to 10.15pm, September to May.
There was no dancing from March 2020 to January 2022 owing to covid-19. The club
restarted on 1 February 2022. We still allow for good ventilation. On 15
February 2022 there was a 'special' evening with Gill Spence sharing the calling
- she was over from Berlin. It was very well attended and felt like old times!
The SPECIAL
EVENING held on 1 October 2024 was a 90th birthday party for Denis.
link to new page - denis.htm.
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Sidford Social Hall can comfortably accommodate 60
to 70 dancers.
The hall is situated near to the traffic lights at the junction of the A3052 and A375 at
Sidford, on the outskirts of Sidmouth.
There is adequate on-street parking. Access is either down Drakes Ave or Warrens Mead, as
shown.We would welcome new members!
Why not give it a try?
Dance instruction is available! You don't need a partner - you can just turn up.
The ages of our dancers are typically 50 to 80 but all ages are welcome.
Separate dance instruction at a venue of your choice is available for people
who are new to dancing - click here. |
Dance evenings start at 8.00pm and end at c. 10.15pm.
You
can download
the 2024/25 programme as a jpg image when it is available.
Break to celebrate the
Winter Solstice Festival - which had its origins in Pagan worship of the Sun.
Christmas was invented
by the Romans as a way to co-opt and tame the raucous pagan holiday of Saturnalia,
which was itself essentially a celebration of the days getting longer
after the winter solstice.
The first dance in
2025 was on 7 January, with Janet Bulpin.
14 January
with Simon Maplesden, again with own music.
21 January Mary
Marker - own music (replacing Jane Thomas). Burns Night theme.
28 January - Patricia
- own music (replacing Jeremy Child).
4 Feb - Rosie Shaw -
with Pair of Shears - should be a real treat!
11 Feb Jane Thomas -
Petronella Band - Valentine's theme with Jane's usual magic.
18 February Janet
Bulpin (replacing Jeremy Child).
25 February - Simon
Maplesden, again with own music.
4 March - Mary Marker
- own music.
11 March Jane Thomas -
Fresh Aire band.
18 March Simon
Maplesden - Jigs for Gigs band
25 March John Ridd -
Dancing Keys
April 1 Kim Smith -
Dancing Keys (again!!)
8 April Chris Jewell -
own music - all the way from North Devon!
15 April Jeremy
Child - own music and probably lively too.
22 April Jane Thomas -
Own Music, for St George's Day
29 April Simon
Maplesden - Jigs for Gigs band.
6 May Jeremy Child -
own music - often big name bands
12 May Mark Moran -
Jeroka
20 May Simon Maplesden
- Pair of Shears (End of season party)
Enjoy summer while you
still can - the nights will soon be drawing in again.
The cost is currently £4.00 per evening (£5.00 non-members).
Annual membership fee = £5
Christmas Dance
2019.
The band for the
evening was the ever popular Fresh Aire from Somerset. Jane Thomas called the dances.
Pictures from 2014
and 2016 are here.
You can check the date and time
of most folk events in Devon.
Basic folk dance
moves are explained here.
Once you are
reasonably competent you will feel at home at the regular Willand Thursday or Saturday dances.
Also, you might enjoy the Exeter ceilidhs held at
the Kenn Centre, at Kennford near
Exeter, EX6 7TW.
Many other useful folk dance links are here .
Enquiries
for Sidford Folk Dance Club: please telephone Helen on (01395) 514161 or Val on
(01395) 568336.
To contact
the owner of this website please email: stevewozniak42 (AT) hotmail.com.
Obviously, replace (AT) by @.
|
We would welcome new members
of all ages - as noted above, you don't need to come with a partner and we have
experienced dancers who will help you. Some of us could also introduce you to American
Square dance - held in nearby Newton Poppleford. Again, the Square Dance club would
welcome complete novices as well as experienced dancers - please phone Val (as above). As
for what to wear for any informal dance event, here is some
advice.
Separate dance instruction at a venue of your choice is also available - click here. |
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